Shingo Aoi
Shingo Aoi (葵 新伍, Aoi Shingo) is an excellent player who debuted in the Battle of World Youth saga, who has become a core member of Japan National Team just after Tsubasa and Misaki as an offensive midfielder. Profile Shingo at first was not amongst the original members of the Japanese Golden Age, but was later revealed as a surprise talent who went on to become a pivotal player of All Japan Youth. He was called the new "super star" of the team, almost pairing up with Misaki, who had to stop playing for most of the World Youth, establishing as a second man to Tsubasa on the midfield, as the new Golden Combi. Story Past Shingo Aoi lived with his parents and his sister in Gifu Prefecture, where he first played in elementary school for the Nakahara FC and later as the number "12" in the middle school soccer club of Nakahara. Early on, Shingo showed his good acrobatics on the ball in the elementary National tournament, where he even beat the Tachibana twins to win the Juggling competition. Yet he felt envious for Tsubasa, who won the tournament with the Nankatsu SC, because juggling didn't mean as much as true soccer for him. Shingo met Tsubasa again in a friendly match of Nakahara against the national champion, the soccer club of the Nankatsu middle school. Nakahara lost 11-0, but Shingo impressed Tsubasa, since Shingo was able to get through all Nankatsu players except for him; after the game, he wanted to quit soccer because of this humiliation, but Tsubasa urged him not to give up soccer. Shingo met Tsubasa another time at an airport, when he was about to leave Japan to go to Brazil. Tsubasa remembered the "Nakahara's Number 12", and gave Shingo three coins (25 cents, 10 franc, 100 yen), which the latter kept as good luck charms. At age 15, he finally went to Italy, because his uncle Shinnosuke, had invited him to introduce him to a football club; when Shingo arrived, however, he found out that his uncle was dead. He tried hard to find a club that would accept him, but everywhere he went he was rebuffed. Moreover, he was tricked by a man posing as a member of the Inter Primavera staff who claimed that he could introduce Shingo to the coach of the Youth team. Shingo lost 2 million lire (150,000 yen, circa 1400 Euro) to the fraudster, and therefore was left with almost no money; he had to work as a shoeshine boy to meet ends, and also engaged in juggling shows to get some money. For some time, Shingo trained alone, but he then met the kit manager Calimero, who, impressed by his skills, arranged for him to participate in a training match of Inter Primavera. He scored a goal against the Italian goalkeeper Gino Hernandez with an overhead kick, and this ensured him a spot the team. Shingo quickly became friends with Hernandez, who took a liking to the young Japanese because he brought back his memories about Tsubasa in the International Jr. Youth Tournament. All the other players, especially Matteo, however, treated him with contempt and even bullied him, to get him to leave. Shingo almost quit under the pressure, but was convinced by Hernandez and Calimero that this was a trial he had to pass if he wanted to become a professional. During a match, with Inter losing 1-0, the coach made him play and warned him that if he didn't perform well enough he would have to leave. Shingo, who had trained hard all by himself to cope with the harsh reality of Italian soccer, reversed the score and won the match for the team, ensuring his stay. His teammates, after seeing his play, accepted him as well. Battle of World Youth saga During the World Youth, it was revealed that Minato Gamo (who had forced all the best players of the youth team out to have them improve their skills) meant for him to be his trump card in the Asian qualification round; however, Shingo initially ignored his calls, because he was bent on exacting revenge on his rival Salvatore Gentile, Italy's most prominent libero, who had defeated him in an Inter - Juventus match and had insulted his style of play. When he realized how bad the situation was (with Japan unexpectedly having to face the Thailand Youth team), he came back, arriving just as the match was being played. ]]Despite being unknown by everyone (with only Tsubasa recognizing him for his previous play and soccer talent), he was instrumental in reversing the score and winning the match. After that, Shingo became a mainstay of the team, with his speed and agility greatly benefiting the team. However, as he was overly enthusiastic, in the second round of the Asian qualification stage, he was forced to sit the match against China Youth out, because of repeated fouls. His main objective, however, was to face Gentile again, and for that he developed his notorious technique for breaking through, the Chokkaku Feint, with some help from the famous Dutch player Gullit. He also met Akai Tomeya, a defender playing for Sampdoria Primavera, while the latter was escorting Gullit. During a brief stay in Italy after the second preliminaries, he and Akai faced each other a match, in which Akai blocked all of his attacks. In the end, however, Inter still won thanks to teamwork between Shingo and Matteo. After that, Shingo suggested Akai joining Japan Youth. When the main tournament was getting underway, Shingo and Gentile collided yet again during the welcome party for the foreign players, during which, much to Shingo's shock, the Italian defender defeated him again with a counter move (the Chokkaku Defense). As his objective was to play against Italy Youth, Shingo was shocked to see Uruguay Youth get an upset victory against Italy, injuring both Hernandez and Gentile in the process. It took Hyuga's intervention to get him to realize that the World Youth was bigger than his own challenges and objectives. Despite this, he was happy to face Hernandez and Gentile in the last match of group stage (by which time Italy was already eliminated from the tournament) with both players forcing themselves to play just because he was playing with his full force. They both gave a spirited performance, and, during Japan's last attack, Shingo faced Gentile again and finally defeated him with a new technique (the Chokkaku Tatsumaki Feint), and scored against Hernandez. The Italian keeper thanked him for giving his best against them, and Gentile admitted defeat, though he warned Shingo that their duel was just beginning. Shingo played all the other matches of the World Youth, and, during the finals against Brazil Youth, he, Tsubasa and Misaki formed the Golden Trio, in the last effort to defeat the superb Brazilian team and ensure Japan Youth's victory. Golden-23 saga After the World Youth, it was revealed that Shingo was unable to secure a place in the main team of Inter; therefore, he was bought by the FC Albese team in the Serie C1, where he met and befriended the Nigerian player Bobang. Before the friendly match between Japan and Nigeria, Shingo warned Bobang not to underestimate the Japanese team because it was lacking the overseas player, and especially not to underestimate Misaki, the key player in Tsubasa's absence. During Japan's pinch against Australia, it was suggested to coach Kira to recall the overseas players (including Aoi), but in the end they were not called. Kaigai Gekito in Calcio saga In this saga mainly based with Italian clubs, it featured the struggle of Shingo's FC Albese and Hyuga's AC Reggiana to gain promotion to the Serie B; with both teams seemingly being unable to pass if defeated (because UC AlbinoLeffe, currently in third place, was leading in their match; and would drop the losing team to third place if the result remained unchanged). Therefore, the match between Albese and Reggiana showcased both team's determination not to lose. Hyuga scored two goals in the first half, with Aoi and Bobang equalizing in the second half; however, their last joined attack failed against the veteran player Gozza's defense, and Hyuga scored the winning goal with seconds to spare. However, Albese gained promotion as well, because AlbinoLeffe had lost their own match in the end. Rising Sun saga In the Rising Sun series, Shingo was selected as a member of the Olympic Japan team. Techniques and abilities Trivia * Just like the main character Tsubasa, his name is a pun lost in translation, meaning "Green traffic light". When he plays at full speed, he tends to say that "I'm now in green light". * His inspiration might be Kitazawa Tsuyoshi, as they both share the same nickname "Midfield's dynamo". Gallery |-|Color spreads= World Youth v06.jpg|'New Golden Combi' World Youth v08.jpg|'Golden Trio' Shingo - FC Albese.jpg|Shingo in FC Albese |-|J= Screenshot 20180721-211034.png|In Nakahara MS Shingo_Aoi_Nakahara_(J)_3.jpg|Nakahara MS Shingo_vs_Nankatsu_(J).jpg|Shingo Aoi vs Izawa Shingo_vs_Nankatsu_(J)_2.jpg|Shingo vs Nankatsu defense Shingo Tsubasa MS (J) 0.jpg|Shingo vs Tsubasa Tsubasa Dribble vs Aoi (CTJ).jpg|Shingo vs Tsubasa Shingo_Aoi_Nakahara_(J)_4.jpg|Shingo benched Shingo Aoi Nakahara (J) 2.jpg|Shingo upset Shingo_Aoi_Nakahara_(J)_5.jpg|Shingo upset Shingo Tsubasa MS (J).jpg|Shingo & Tsubasa Screenshot 20180721-211516.png|Shingo inspired Shingo Tsubasa MS (J) 2.jpg|Shingo thanking Tsubasa Shingo Tsubasa MS (J) 3.jpg Shingo Tsubasa MS (J) 4.jpg Shingo Tsubasa MS (J) 5.jpg Aoi Inter - Chest reception.jpg|Aoi - Inter Primavera Aoi and Gino Hernandez.jpg|Aoi & Gino Hernandez Aoi and Tsubasa - Twin Shot.jpg|Twin Shot with Tsubasa |-|2001= Screenshot 20180721-213018.png|In Nakahara middle school Shingo Aoi01.jpg|Training Camp jersey Shingo Aoi.jpg|Training Camp jersey Shingo Aoi02.jpg|In Japan Youth |-|Manga= Aoi - All Japan Youth.jpg|Aoi - Olympic Japan Chokkaku_tornado_feint.jpg|Chokkaku Tatsumaki Feint |-|Illustrations= Shingo - Japan Youth.jpg|Japan Youth (Jersey 1) shingo.PNG|Aoi - Japan Youth (Jersey 2) All Japan Youth (DT).jpg|Japan Youth Aoi and Tsubasa - Get In The Tomorrow (Game) (2).jpg|Tsubasa and Aoi (All Japan Youth) Tsubasa Aoi and Hyuga - The Way to World Youth (Game) (2).jpg|Tsubasa, Hyuga and Aoi (All Japan Youth) Notes External links * at Japanese Wikipedia (Japanese) * at Italian Wikipedia (Italian) * at Captain Tsubasa db (Japanese) * at Shinji's Captain Tsubasa fansite * at ''Captain Tsubasa: Dream Team'' database * at MyAnimeList * at aniDB * at Anime Characters Database de:Shingo Aoi es:Shingo Aoi Category:Gamemakers Category:Japanese Category:Midfielders Category:Players of Japan Category:Players of Serie B Category:Players of Serie C Category:Characters introduced in World Youth saga Category:Players of Campionato Primavera 1